1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to devices for suspending a panel within a frame, such as a window frame. In particular, the present invention relates to a protective panel apparatus that may be temporarily installed within a frame. More particularly, the present invention relates to a panel retention device and a panel assembly employing the same that provide a protective barrier against winds and other environmental hazards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Glass doors and windows offer very little resistance to high winds and airborne debris. The breaching of a building portal such as a glass door or window causes a dramatic pressure increase inside the structure resulting in a catastrophic failure of the roof structure. The continual and unpredictable threat posed by hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe weather phenomena resulting in property damage and injury or loss of life in many regions of the world has therefore driven the development of many different types of window and door protection systems and devices. Among the most commonly used of such protective devices are removable panels and a variety of types of permanently installed protection shutters. While providing reliable storm protection, shutters and other permanently installed devices are expensive and are increasingly considered an unattractive feature on the exterior home or building décor.
Removable plywood paneling is perhaps the oldest and best-known type of fortification covering because of its widespread use when hurricane or other storms threaten populated regions. The installation of plywood panels, typically over windows and glass doors, is usually a do-it-yourself project with the plywood material available at most hardware or home improvement stores. The advantages of plywood panels are that they are portable and do not become a permanent fixture on the home or building. In addition, plywood panels are widely available and inexpensive.
A significant disadvantage of using temporary plywood panels is that it requires drilling or boring unsightly screw or nail holes in the frame structure surrounding the window to which the heavy cover panel is securely fastened. Given the natural reluctance of home and building owners to damage their outside property with such boreholes in the absence of dire necessity, many persons find themselves hurriedly attempting to install such panels in the period immediately prior to a forecasted storm. Under time pressures and possibly low light, or increasingly windy or otherwise hostile weather conditions, the installation of plywood panels over doors and windows is often haphazard, resulting in compromised barrier integrity and/or excessive damage to the window or door frames to which the panels are secured. Other drawbacks of using plywood panels include the considerable weight of large panels which further require storage and protection from moisture and wood-destroying insects.
Given the continued popularity of removable storm panels, solutions to some of the foregoing problems have been proposed, such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,219,978 and 6,334,282 both issued to Wood. U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,978, entitled “Device For Covering Windows During Severe Storms” discloses a window barrier apparatus utilizing non-destructive means for securing a plywood panel within a window frame. Specifically, the apparatus employs a slide-arm-and-bolt assembly including a base plate clipped or otherwise secured to an edge of a panel, and a slide arm that extends therefrom and terminates at a rubber stopper for contacting an edge surface of a window frame. The means for extending the slide arm comprises a bolt that is advanced or retracted using a wrench or pliers such that the slide arm may first be fitted within the window frame and subsequently extended until the rubber stopper at the end of the slide arm exerts sufficient pressure against the window frame to securely anchor the panel.
A critical drawback in using the window protection device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,978 is that actuation of the slide-arm-and-bolt assembly described therein requires significant hand tool working, resulting in a relatively slow and cumbersome panel installation process. When installing a panel using such a device, for example, the helical extension and retraction of the extender bolt requires tool actuation in a rotational plane transverse to the panel surface plane and is therefore time consuming and inefficient in terms of obstructing the user's ability to quickly adjust to the correct tension by hand feel in the limited working volume adjacent the panel. U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,282 addresses some of these problems by replacing the slide-arm-and-bolt design with a spring-controlled locking arm assembly in which a lever arm is pre-positioned such that the rubber footer is initially in a withdrawn position. After positioning device within a window frame, the lever arm is released, resulting in the rubber stopper pivoting into position against the frame surface with the pressure applied by the spring. While eliminating the aforementioned drawbacks of the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,978, the obvious problem with this solution is the lack of means for selectively adjusting the pressure applied by the spring tensioned stoppers.
It can therefore be appreciated that a need exists for an improved panel suspension apparatus and method for using the same that may be quickly and easily installed in low light or otherwise hostile environmental conditions without damaging surrounding supporting structure and while providing adequate panel anchoring security. The present invention addresses such a need.